When you think about it it’s no surprise that the former Labor Party used the Hills Hoist in its advertisements for its policies to accelerate growth in the high tech industries.

Technically illiterate, functionally corrupt, American sycophants and socially conservative; that’s them. I don’t for a second think any other party is any better, BTW.

We in Australia badly need a centre left political party that isn’t named after a work activity or the colour of a forest.

Which is to say, I think we need a centre left party that is pro-growth, anti-rent seeking, economically dry, socially conscious and environmentally proactive.

On the flip side of giving, there is an art to receiving.

If you can detect the difference between dross and gold, as proffered up by a giver, then you have a very useful mechanism by which  to practice selective positive feedback.

If you can follow that last paragraph then you are well on the way.

Another tip for a happy life; giving can be more fun than receiving.

Unhappy people are takers. Take, take, take. Think Rupert Murdoch.

And I don’t means gifts either. I mean giving whatever it is that you are good at.

Also, note that there is absolutely no point giving dross or commodities, no matter how much time or effort you put into it. It’s quality, not quantity, that matters.

A tip for a happy life; expect nothing and then it’s all upside.

I have always hated the word should.

It smacks of a deep sense of personal entitlement.

If you are writing an opinion piece you should not use the word “should” in the title.

It’s a crap way to go about converting people with opposite views. And there is no point preaching to the converted.

Instead, first focus on the problem and then subtly offer up your wonderful solution.

So, rewriting the first sentence of this blog correctly we would have; “Do the readers that you really want to get to never actually get past the titles of your articles?”

I have just re-learnt for the millionth time that I can be self centered, lazy and careless.

Aren’t we all to some extent though?

At least those of us that are aware of it can moderate these traits if we care to.

One side impact of being an individual that is aware of these traits is that they tend to be more obviously paraded on the surface.

Not like those unaware types who keep their self centeredness, laziness and carelessness behind carefully constructed firewalls, behind which these traits beaver away in the dark.

I wonder why it is so rare for women to be able to laugh at themselves?

I do know that the ability to laugh at oneself has three sources; one, cultural and picked up through early development, another is based on self-confidence, and, finally, an understanding that humour is the most efficient stress release mechanism around.

Girls please note, inter alia and if this matters to you, being able to laugh at yourself makes it much. much easier for men to be with you.

Of course if men aren’t important to you then, knock yourself out and take it all very seriously by all means. But there are other, probably more important, benefits to being able to laugh at yourself.

Sydney is just getting rid of its monorail because it was getting in the way of the plans of a few developers.

It is being dismantled and sold to a Chinese city. They are cutting the support beams at the top of the plinths that they sit on (see below) which means the thing will be ten feet lower when it’s reinstalled in China.

By the time it gets to Russia or Mongolia on its third internship it will be head height.

On the fourth effort in Nigeria it will be a train.

I am just in the Hilton eavesdropping on a conversation between two American businessman.

The whole conversation is about their personal wealth and what they spend it on. They are competing, in code.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to have such meaning in life?

In economics we have micro- and macro- economics.

Similarly we need to introduce the concept of micro-libertarianism and macro-libertarianism.

I am for the former and rabidly against the latter.

I was clearing out my mail this morning for first time in weeks, and I found this (below).

Numbers one and four are fluff since they are stuff all governments do and the results are subjective.

Number three is immeasurable.

Number six will probably be taken care of by general growth in the economy, but they know they won’t be there by then anyway. Note, they didn’t say if it was the net or gross number of new jobs…

Number two is a reiteration of Tony’s crusade. But it might be harder than they realise to get this through the Senate. A double dissolution election would really piss off the electorate, so maybe they would be better placed to soften their stance on this.

Number five is political suicide.

They had the election won anyway…why bother hanging yourself I say? Fuckwits…

Since the Australian people didn’t get to countersign the contract they could argue the contract isn’t enforceable I suppose.

In the photo there is also six ministers in waiting; I guess this implies one goon responsible for each of the six clauses in the contract.

Have you ever wondered why some people, as they get older, get more and more set in their ways? These people are often anxious when anything around them changes or is out of routine.

As an example, my elderly in-laws took us out for a bushwalk recently. In order to catch the ferry to the start of the walk we had to be at the wharf by 10am. The ferry wharf was fifteen minutes from where we were staying. At 9am they were panicking that we would be late because I was still casually crafting up a latte in the kitchen in my pyjamas. There was no penalty for being late since there was a ferry every hour and daylight was twice as long as our walk, and also there was nothing planned for after the walk; so we had all the time in the world. Basically they had told themselves that we were aiming for the 10am ferry (it being the latest possible compromise for people who got up at 6am and those of us who arise at 9am). By 9am the anxiety hit as the deadline approached. Wow.

The majority of people on this planet are not free of mind. They do not question their existence. They do not challenge their behaviors. They accept their inherited constraints. They do not develop wisdom and as they get older they become little tiny eggs in a very tight silos, scared and often unhappy, if not obviously on the surface. They seek the comfort of the known.

Do yourself a favour; question your birthrights, challenge orthodoxy of the mind, use logic to be not scared of consequences, understand human systems so you can place any situation into context, do things that scare you, realise that most consequences are imaginary, fear not the opinions of people you know not, and remove yourself from the safety blanket of groups of equally deluded like-minded people.

That is, be an individual and develop genuine wisdom. It will make you happier, independent and you will also be free of the self-made constraints that hold people back in their endeavours, be they love, work or play.

It’s not that I hate lifts, it’s just that I don’t want to work or live in a building with them. They correlate to a bunch of things I don’t like.

I am just having a quiet beer and dart.

The pub has the old song “to sir with love” playing. What a great song.

It would make a great hip hop cover, much the same way that the Fugees did “killing me softly with his song” or whatever it’s called.

[Photo below is random]

I just played my first squash comp match in a decade and won three love.

Truth is I played like shit but the other guy just wasn’t that good.

He looked ok but got himself all out of position so I could just play it away from him with ease.

I am going to have to go up a few grades to make this worth while.

I have to slow my self down since I was rushing shots and also getting too close to the ball.

No message. Just a note to self.